With their poorest offensive performs of the year, the Cleveland Cavaliers (5-6) drop their third straight game, falling to the Washington Wizards (8-3) on the road 91-78.
Credit goes to the Wizards, who were able to hold the league's second-best offense to a minuscule 78 points, thanks in part to the 19 turnovers they forced. Most of them were due to their backcourt duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal, who combined for seven steals, but the rest was more self-inflicted by the Cavaliers. Multiple times throughout the game, Cleveland had fast break opportunities ruined by bad passes and miscommunication. In the first quarter, Anderson Varejao tried to play point guard on a two-on-one fast break with LeBron James, but made a bad pass leading to a turnover and two points for Washington on the other end. Washington was able to capitalize all night on Cleveland's miscues, scoring 24 points off of turnovers.
When the Cavs didn't turnover the ball over, they still made bad decisions shooting the ball, making only 36.0 percent of their shots tonight. Ball movement, which is a staple of head coach David Blatt's offense, was as nonexistent as it has been all season. The Cavs finished with 13 assists, and ended way too many possessions with zero passes or one-on-one isolation. Plenty of shots were taken with at least 15 seconds on the shot clock, most of them coming from LeBron. If the offense wants to be as good as they can be, they must eliminate these mistakes.
This is more than just losing games for the Cavs right now, as it seems that LeBron's message isn't getting across to everyone. Communication is mum,
both on AND off the court, leading to problems that could easily be avoided. It's early, but if things don't change quickly, it will be long season in Cleveland.
Oh, and if things weren't as bad as they were now, the Cavs play the best team in the Eastern Conference tomorrow. But hey, all it takes is a few wins and this will all go away.
Three Things
1. LeBron is not helping.
Well, his play is (kind of), but his body language is definitely not. More times than not, he looks disgruntled and it's been rubbing off on his teammates, specifically to Kevin Love. At times, him and LeBron look as if they don't want to even share the court together. Look, LeBron knew it would take time for this team to gel, and even said that in his letter announcing his return to Cleveland. He shouldn't be the guy being frustrated, he should the guy be trying to calm everyone down when something goes wrong, and not making comments as if he is surprised at the situation the Cavs are in. Leaders are supposed to set good examples for others, not compound an issue when it arises. If and when things start to change in Cleveland, it will begin with LeBron showing the leadership he learned from Dwyane Wade and Pat Riley.
2. It's hard to be good when your bench isn't.
Just as important as having two or three star players are in order to win a championship, you need two or three bench players that can come in and make an impact on the game when the starters need a rest. Right now, there is no one on the Cavs bench that has constantly played well. Waiters and Thompson were supposed to be the go-to guys off the bench, but their play has been spotty to say the least. Joe Harris showed signs earlier, but since the Atlanta game his play has fell off. Mike Miller has been the Jason Giambi of this team: the old veteran who is more of a locker room guy than anything, and only does the one thing he does well good every once in awhile. There's plenty of time in the season for these guys to step up, but right now, it's gonna be hard for them to win games with no bench production.
3. Dear NBA Gods, let Varejao stay healthy.
You're not technically an NBA writer/blogger if you have not yet talked about the Cavs defense or lack of interior depth. Flat out, they're not good at defense, and no matter how much better they get, they're ceiling is no higher than 15th in defensive rating. As of now, Varejao has been the Cavs best interior defender while also providing some spark on the offensive end. I'm not a fan of him taking 10 shots in three quarters (as he did tonight), but he can score when given an open shot. If Varejao goes down, you're looking at Haywood as your backup big (barring any trades) with Thompson as the starting center. As bad as things have went so far, the last thing the Cavs need is for the Brazilian big man to go down with an injury.
Statline of the night: John Wall. 28 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals. 12-of-20 shooting.
I noted in the preview that Wall was one of the best two-way guards in the league, and he definitely showed that tonight. He was unstoppable on offense, but even more impressive on defensive, snagging four steals in what would be a turnover fest for Cleveland.
What's next: Nov. 22, at home against the Toronto Raptors. 7:30 p.m.
